Display-rack.



C. F. STEWART.

DISPLAY RACK.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20. 1914.

Patented May 11, 1915.

5] wuamtoz M m w HE NORRIS PETERS 60., PHOw-LITHON WASHINGTONv D. C:

CHARLES F. STEWART, 0F NASHVILLE, KANSAS.

DISPLAY-RACK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1915.

Application filed January 20, 1914. Serial No. 813,248.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES F. STEWART, citizen of the United States, residing at Nashville, in the county of Kingman and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Display-Racks, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates broadly to new and useful improvements in display racks, and as its principal object aims to provide an efiicient article of this nature which is particularly adapted for receiving and properly supporting rakes, hoes, shovels, or any other garden tool, as well as axes, buggy whips, curtain poles, or any other article possessed of a relatively long handle or shaft.

A further object is to provide a display rack consisting essentially in a body and a bracket member which is e nipped with a number of spring retaining ngers adapted to grip the shaft or handle of the article and to hold it in the proper position.

A still further object is to provide a display rack of the character described which is simple in construction, and may, therefore, be' cheaply manufactured.

The above and additional objects are accomplished by such means as are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the following specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the claims which are appended hereto and form a part of this application.

With reference to the drawings, wherein there has been illustrated the preferred embodiment of this invention as it is reduced to practice, and throughout the several views of which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a display rack showing a number of tools and other articles arranged for display; Fig. 2 is-an enlarged perspective view illustrating the retaining bracket of the display rack in disassembled relation; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the bracket; and Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of the spring retaining fingers.

Proceeding now to the description of the drawings, and referring particularly to Fig. l, in which the invention is best illustrated as an entirety, it will be seen that the rack consists broadly in the supporting standard 10, a shelf or body member 11, and a retaining bracket 12.

The supporting standard 10 may be of any suitable construction, but in the preferred embodiment is formed from a wooden post of such size that it will bear the combined weight of the tools which it is desired to display. The body member or shelf 11 and the bracket 12 are both constructed preferably, although not necessarily, of wood, and are swingingly attached to the supporting standard. In connecting the members 11 and 12 to the supporting standard, there is provided an attaching plate 13 which may, if desired, be constructed of wood, but in the preferred embodiment, as shown in Fig. 1, is fashioned of sheet metal. This member 13 is provided adjacent its upper and lower terminals with laterally extending tongues, as at 14C, 15, 16 and 17. These tongue members are preferably produced by cutting the member 13 and stamping the metal outwardly in the manner shown. Between the extreme terminals of the member 13 and the pairs of tongues are similarly formed hinge plates 18 and 19. These members 18 and 19 are centrally apertured, and are received on a hinge rod 20 which is equipped with adjustable collars 21 and 22 adapted to support the hinge plate. These collars are preferably held in adjusted position on the hinge rod 20 by means of set screws 24. The hinge rod is supported within brackets 25 which are bolted or otherwise secured to the standard 10.

Upon reference to Fig. 1, it will be readily observed that the inner terminals of the members 11 and 12 are inserted respectively between the pairs of tongues 14c and 15 and 16 and 17, being held in position therein by means of bolts or other. suitable fastening devices. In order to brace the body member 11, there has been provided a pair of diagonally directed brace rods 26 and 27, the outer terminals of which are secured to the outer terminals of the body member 11 by means of a bolt 28, while the inner and upper terminals are secured to the inner terminal of the bracket 12 by a bolt 29. Brace rods 30 and 31 may be applied to'the outer terminals of the members 11 and 12 for bracing these members and for rigidly holding them in the desired spaced relation.

The bracket member, which has heretofore been designated as an entirety by the numeral 12, is, as previously set forth, formed from a strip of wood. As shown in Fig. 2, this member 12 is bifurcated, as at 32, producing a longitudinally extending throat and a pair of parallel arms 33 and .34. In arranging the rakes, axes or other articles within the display rack, the handles of the articles are inserted in the throat of the bracket and moved inwardly there through. When in the proper position, the terminals of the handles are mounted on the body member 11, while the handles are held against lateral movement by spring fingers 35 carried by the arm 33 of the bracket. It may here be noted that sockets 36 are formed in the upper face of the body member 11 to receive the terminals of the article handles, as shown in Fig. 1.

The spring fingers 35, one of which is illustrated in detail in Fig. 4:, are preferably formed from resilient wire. Each finger is bent to produce a substantially S-shaped conformation, one end of the S being coiled to produce an eyelet 37 which receives a screw or bolt, as at 38. It will be apparent that the member 38 may be tightened to bind the eyelet 37 against the adjacent face of the arm 33 so that the spring finger will be held against rotation. In the normal position of the fingers, the free terminals of the members bear against the body of the next adjacent finger. The free terminals of these fingers are bent upwardly, as at 39, so that the fingers may be conveniently grasped to move their terminals away from the arm 32 for the purpose of admitting a handle or similar article, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. It will now be seen that the fingers will normally tend to bind the handle or other article against the adjacent edge of the arm 32, and in this manner securely hold the article in proper position in the rack.

It is desirable to direct attention to the fact that the display rack of this invention may be set up in a store so that it will occupy a minimum space, for inasmuch as the members 10 and 11 are swingingly attached to the supporting standard, the articles which are to be displayed may be swung into an out-of-the-way position against the wall or may be swung so that they may be quickly handled by the purchaser and sales man. If the articles supported within the rack are comparatively heavy, it may be necessary to secure the standard to the floor, and for this purpose the standard has been provided with a foot 40 which is apertured to receive screws or other fastening devices ply which it may be securely fastened to the oor.

In reduction to practice, it has been found that the form of this invention illustrated in the drawings, and referred to in the above description as the preferred embodiment, is the most efficient in practice; yet realizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of this device may necessarily vary, it is desirable to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in details of ing bifurcation, and a plurality of resilient gripping fingers carried by one of the arms and extendlng lnto the bifurcatlon, each of said fingers being movable away from the second arm whereby an article may be interposed between the second arm and the fingers and clamped therebetween.

'2. In a device of the character described, a supporting standard, an attaching plate swingingly connected thereto, said attaching plate being formed from a single length of metal and including a pair of longitudinally spaced apertured hinge lugs extending from one face of the plate, and pairs of mating attaching ears formed adjacent the upper and lower terminals of the plate, a body member having its inner terminal received between the attaching ears at the lower terminal of the plate, and a bracket having its inner terminal received between the attaching ears adjacent the upper end of the plate.-

3. In a device of the character described, a supporting standard, an attaching plate swingingly connected thereto, a body member, a retaining bracket, said body member and bracket being secured to the attaching plate and arranged in parallel spaced relation to each other, said body member being provided with a longitudinally extending series of spaced sockets, said retaining bracket having a longitudinal bifurcation extending inwardly from its outer terminal, and a plurality of resilient retaining fingers secured on one side of the bifurcation and having their intermediate portions projecting into the bifurcation whereby a plurality of articles may be clamped therein between the springs and the other side of the bracket and whereby any one of the articles held may be removed independently of the other articles.

4. A bracket of the character described including a pair of parallel arms defined by a longitudinally extending bifurcation, and a plurality of gripping fingers carried by one of the arms and extending into the bifurcation, each of said fingers being movable away from the second arm whereby an article may be interposed between the fingers and second arm.

' 5. A bracket of the character described including a pair of rigidly connected arm members mounted in parallel spaced relation to each other and having a free and In testimony whereof I affix my signature unobstructed space between theirbadjfacexlit in presence of two witnesses.

terminals whereb articles ma e ree passed between thi; arms, and a plurality 0% CHARLES STEWART 5 resilient gripping members carried by one Witnesses:

of the arms and arranged to clamp articles S. A. SCOTT,

against the other arm. SADIE EVANS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for fiire cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

